Alexandra wrote:
You have an infant correct? It's not like they refused your quiet 16 year old. They were too polite to tell you that people don't spend $200 to sit down and listen to your baby playing on his iPad or screaming like they normally do in public in Cambodia. If you're not staying in the hotel I really don't know what you're doing at Rosewood with kids.

Yes, infant, correct. (I'm not really sure, when do they stop being "infants"?)

I'm very conscientious, and would not be in any restaurant/bar with him playing an iPad, screaming, or crying. I figured that at 5/5:30 PM, before the sun even went down, that my group of four (plus him) could sit an enjoy a drink and the view. Staying at the hotel or not shouldn't matter, but it seemed to me that even if I was staying in the hotel, that they wouldn't have allowed it.

logos wrote:

Any bar in the US or Europe would let you in at 5:30 PM with your well behaved infant, but they were told here “no one under 18 can come in and drink.”

I very much doubt you'd be able to take a toddler to some British pubs except on family brunches. Why do you assume you should be exempt of written rules, just because you're a Westerner in Cambodia?

I guess I was surprised that an open aired restaurant/bar wouldn't let us at a reasonable hour of the day. Have you been there? It's a pretty relaxed environment, at a 5-star hotel. The "under 18 rule" is most likely their global policy of not serving alcohol to those under 18, and doesn't relate to me having a beer with my son.

I guess I was just surprised to be denied, which did not happen when I traveled to the U.S. or to Europe. It comes back to my original question, and I guess Alexandra and Logos would say that even during daylight hours, one should not go to a bar like atmosphere with their little one.

Any bar in the US or Europe would let you in at 5:30 PM with your well behaved infant, but they were told here “no one under 18 can come in and drink.”

I very much doubt you'd be able to take a toddler to some British pubs except on family brunches. Why do you assume you should be exempt of written rules, just because you're a Westerner in Cambodia?

No trouble at all from my experience, a British pub is usually quite a family place, particularly in the summer. Certainly outside of London I've rarely seen any pub turning anyone away.

Of course in the evening it'd be frowned upon by just about every other customer, so it isn't something you would see a lot. Legally, so long as a child (baby through to under 16) is accompanied by an adult there is nothing wrong. Certain pubs may implement their own rules however and can reject entry to anyone from babies through to people who simply should go home & stop drinking.

I had no qualms having my son with me in a pub in London whilst I caught up with my extended family this summer, but again probably as I know which pub is a good environment for him to be in and not be exposed to loutish behaviour & foul language; but isn't that also part & parcel of growing up?

Why did you insist on Sora? Why did you not enjoy the same view from Brasserie Louis, Iza or Cuts? I don’t know what their child policy is but did you ask or just blindly march towards Sora?

By the way when you say you’re having a beer with your son some people might mistake that for your son actually drinking beer. This is Cambodia and you should probably rephrase that when talking to Cambodians. Make it clear that you are having the beer. Don’t say “me and my 1 infant or whatever wants beer when do they stop being infants anyway haha”.